Missouri Humanities

Author Talk: Black St. Louis
2026-01-31 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago) | Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, 7400 Grant Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63123, United States
Black St. Louis explores the rich and inspiring history of African Americans in St. Louis from the city’s founding as a French fur trading post during the Spanish colonial era to
the new millennium. Author NiNi Harris highlights great figures who showed leadership, incredible innovation, and courage despite the injustices they faced.
The program is free. Call 314-842-1867 ext. 230 for reservations.

Lindenwood University's Winter Dance Concert
2026-01-31 19:30 - 21:00 | The J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts, 2300 W Clay St, St Charles, MO, 63301, United States
This year’s Winter Dance Concert highlights the creative voices of our sophomore and junior choreographers. Each pair has crafted original work and set it on their peers, resulting in thirteen unique pieces that move through humor, heartbreak, imagination, and joy. The program offers an intimate look at the artistry emerging within our program and invites audiences to experience a wide range of emotional and creative perspectives. Join us for three evenings in our three-sided black box theater, where you’ll be immersed in the action and seated up close to the performers as these young artists share the work they have built together.

12 Months of Giving
2026-02-01 00:00 - 23:30, 2026-03-01 00:00 - 2026-03-31 23:30 | Foster Wallace Personal Injury Lawyers, 4700 Belleview Ave Suite 304, Kansas City, 64112
At Foster Wallace Personal Injury Lawyers, giving back matters. Through our 12 Months of Giving initiative, we’re donating $3,000 each month in 2026 to local nonprofits making a difference. We invite you to nominate a local nonprofit meaningful to you using the form on our event page. Monthly recipients will be announced on our website and social media channels.

Route 66 Centennial Traveling Exhibit in Lebanon, MO
2026-02-05 - 2026-02-06 | Lebanon-LaClede County Library, 915 S. Jefferson Ave, Lebanon, 65536
Route 66 Centennial Traveling Exhibit in Lebanon
2/5: 10 am – 6 PM
5 PM Panel Discussion with documentarian Katrina Parks, Missouri Route 66 Association CFO Larry Sernyk and educational curriculum developer Kari Kussmann
2/6: 10 am – 4 PM
School Groups Welcome. Please email esemsch@lebanon-laclede.lib.mo.us
Free and open to the public.
Celebrating the rich legacy of the Mother Road, America’s Main Street, the Route 66 Centennial Traveling Exhibit will be on view in Lebanon, Missouri on February 5 and 6, 2026. The exhibit marks two major milestones: the 100th anniversary of Route 66 and the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The exhibit will be open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 5, and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Friday, February 6.
Drawing from the documentary film series Route 66: The Untold Story of Women on the Mother Road by project director Katrina Parks, the traveling exhibit combines large-format interpretive panels, audiovisual materials, and educational activities designed for youth and family audiences. Together, these elements invite visitors to explore how Route 66 shaped American history, culture, and identity through the stories of the people who lived, worked, and traveled along it. From the glow of neon signs to the steady hum of tires on open pavement, every mile of Route 66 tells a story of opportunity, invention, and freedom. For nearly a century, the road has drawn visitors from around the world and continues to hold countless stories waiting to be uncovered.
On Thursday, February 5 at 5:00 p.m., the public is invited to attend a panel discussion featuring project director Katrina Parks, educational curriculum developer Kari Kussmann, and Missouri Route 66 Association Chief Financial Officer Larry Sernyk. The discussion will explore the historical significance of Route 66, the origins of the Route 66 Centennial Traveling Exhibit, and the importance of education and preservation as the nation approaches the Route 66 centennial.
The Route 66 Centennial Traveling Exhibit is made possible with support from the Missouri Route 66 Centennial Commission, Missouri Humanities, the Missouri Route 66 Association, the Lebanon-LaClede County Library and many other institutions. The exhibit will continue to travel to communities along the Mother Road, highlighting local histories while connecting them to the broader national story.
For more information about exhibit hours, programming, or upcoming tour locations, please visit www.route66exhibit.com.

History of Chocolate and Candy Making in Missouri
2026-02-05 17:30 - 18:30
An overview of the products and producers of the confections that have made Missouri a culinary destination.

America's 250th: Celebrating Black History Month
2026-02-05 18:00 - 20:00 | Lincoln University, 812 East Dunklin St., Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, Room 106, Jefferson City, 65201
Celebrate Black History Month with the release of a local history book about Black soldiers in the Civil War from Cole County. The Cole County America 250th Committee hosts a program including author Michelle Brooks, portrayals of President Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln University’s first president Richard Baxter Foster, and Bob Priddy as emcee. Come early to view displays about local Black history.

First Saturdays at Keystone: Arts, Culture & Creative Entrepreneurship
2026-02-07, 2026-03-07 | Keystone CoLAB, 800 E 18th St, Kansas City, 64108

Laumeier's Art & Nature Day + Exhibition Opening
2026-02-07 10:00 - 16:00 | Laumeier Sculpture Park, 12580 Rott Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63127, United States
Celebrate Laumeier Sculpture Park’s 50th anniversary year with a free, all-ages event on Saturday, February 7, featuring the opening of Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting and Art & Nature Day.
Highlighting hundreds of artists and rarely seen works from Laumeier’s collection, the exhibition revisits five decades of artist commissions and exhibitions. Guests are invited to explore the Park’s history and its ongoing relationship with artists, the landscape, and the community.
Art & Nature Day, presented in partnership with St. Louis County Parks and Recreation, welcomes all to explore the deep connections between art, nature, and community with free hands-on activities and creative play.
SCHEDULE:
10 a.m.–4 p.m. / Exhibition Opening / Aronson Fine Arts Center
Explore Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting.
11 a.m.–2 p.m. / Drop-In Puppet Making Workshop / Kranzberg Education Lab
Create a unique puppet alongside members of the Puppet Guild of Greater St. Louis while learning about Laumeier’s history with puppetry arts.
11 a.m.–2 p.m. / Family Play Space / Kranzberg Education Lab
Explore loose-parts play, hop across colorful steppingstones, and enjoy open-ended creative play for all ages.
12 p.m.–12:30 p.m. / Gallery Talk / Aronson Fine Arts Center
Join Curator Dana Turkovic for insight into Begin Again: 50 Years and Counting.
1–2 p.m. / Interactive Indoor Gallery Tour / Aronson Fine Arts Center
Investigate selected works from Begin Again through hands-on activities with Laumeier’s education team.
No registration needed.
Learn more: www.laumeiersculpturepark.org/art-nature-days

Missouri History Day Filmmakers Showcase
2026-02-07 13:30 - 15:30 | State Historical Society of Missouri, 605 Elm Street, Columbia, MO, 65201, United States
Join us as we celebrate Missouri History Day filmmakers and screen several short documentaries produced by one of our Missouri History Day alumni and professional artist Brian Hawkins of Kansas City, along with Rohan Deshpande, who is a current History Day student from St. Louis. Hawkins, who is an award-winning animator and filmmaker, will have some of his art pieces for sale to benefit the National History Day program in Missouri. NHD offers a contest to students in grades 6-12 annually. The State Historical Society of Missouri is the host and organizer of the statewide Missouri History Day contest held on the University of Missouri campus in April.
The Saturday event is free and open to the public. We will provide light food and beverage to all attendees to celebrate the National History Day in Missouri program! Not able to attend? You can still support the program by donating to https://shsmo.org/donate/nhdmo

The Weatherbird Turns 125! Cake-Cutting at the Field House Museum
2026-02-07 14:00 - 16:00 | Field House Museum, 634 S Broadway, Saint Louis, MO, 63102, United States
Join us at the Field House Museum to celebrate a true St. Louis original—the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Weatherbird—as it turns 125!
Stop by for a free slice of birthday cake during this community cake-cutting celebration honoring the beloved cartoon character that has been commenting on the weather (and life in St. Louis) since 1900.
While you’re here, explore the special exhibition Behind the Feathers: A Century of Weatherbird History, and discover how the Weatherbird has evolved into one of the longest-running editorial cartoons in the world.
🎂 Free and open to the public
📅 Saturday, February 7 | 2–4 p.m.
📍 Field House Museum
Cake available while supplies last.

Second Sunday- Free Days at the Museum
2026-02-08 10:00 - 16:00, 2026-03-08 10:00 - 16:00 | The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures, 5235 Oak Street, Kansas City, MO 64112, Kansas City, M, 64112, United States
Bring the whole family to Free Days at the Museum. Occurring on every second Sunday of the month, Free Days provide greater access to The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures’ vast and awe-inspiring collections for visitors near and far.
All attendees can explore the Museum at no charge.

Stories of Resilience – An Asian American Legacy
2026-02-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Browning Hall Auditorium, 8274 Big Bend Blvd., St. Louis
Stories of Resilience – An Asian American Legacy is a companion to the national traveling exhibit, Resilience—A Sansei Sense of Legacy, sponsored by the St. Louis Japanese American Citizens League at the STL Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. As part of their year-long storytelling festival funded by the Missouri Humanities, Cambio Center is supporting this event on February 10th, 2026, 6 pm. Through Stories of Resilience and its accompanying workshops, the organizers aim to develop greater access and interactions between storytelling experts and Asian American residents, as well as between Asian American stories and others. Come hear stories of resilience at Webster University, Browning Hall auditorium, 8274 Big Bend Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63119.

Lecture,"Missouri in 1861: The Rise and Fall of John and Jessie Fremont
2026-02-10 18:30 - 19:30 | The Orris theater, 265 Merchant Street, Ste. Genevieve, 63670
Gregory Wolk, author of a new work of nonfiction published by the Missouri Historical Society Press, describes the eventful 100 days in 1861 that western explorer John C. Fremont commanded the Western Department of the US Army from headquarters in St. Louis. An in-depth discussion of important military campaigns of the period is coupled with political intrigue when Fremont’s wife – the daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton – joins her husband’s fight against the powerful Francis Blair family of Washington and St. Louis in order to advance the cause of emancipation. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln resists the call for emancipation, fearing that Missouri and Kentucky may join the Confederacy.

Unseen St. Louis
2026-02-11 18:00 - 19:00 | Ste Genevieve Museum Learning Center, 360 Market St, Ste. Genevieve, 63670
When historians visit the archive, they often find weird, surprising, and fun material that they rarely get to share with others…but that ends here! This event shares the stories of a selection of images and objects from various St. Louis archives that reveal an unknown side of St. Louis history. The presentation is fun, upbeat, and conversational spanning from the nineteenth century to today, from newspapers and magazines to photography and phonograph records.

Sweet Obsessions: Chocolate and candy history in Missouri
2026-02-12 12:00 - 13:00 | First Capital Lions Club Building, 520 N Benton, St. Charles, 63301
An overview of candy history and the celebrated confectioners who made created and sold candy in Missouri.

Civil Rights Night: The Impact of Racial Laws from Jim Crow to the Holocaust
2026-02-12 18:00 - 19:00 | St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, 36 Millstone Campus Drive, St. Louis, 63146
Join the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum for Civil Rights Night: The Impact of Racial Laws from Jim Crow and the Holocaust featuring historian Dr. Dan J. Puckett, Professor of History at Troy University and Chair of the Alabama Holocaust Commission. Dr. Puckett will explore racial laws in both American history and the Holocaust. He will be joined in conversation by Reverend Rodrick Burton, President at St. Louis Airport Interfaith Chaplaincy and member of the Museum’s Board of Directors.
This event offers a thought-provoking look at how the histories of racial oppression in the American history and Nazi genocide relate, inviting reflection on civil rights, justice, and historical memory.

The Courtship of Ulysses and Julia Grant
2026-02-14 10:00 - 23:00 | Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, 7400 Grant Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63123, United States
Come learn about the love story of Ulysses and Julia on February 14th. Park Guide Sky Castilleja will present and discuss their courtship and young relationship.
The program is free. Call 314-842-1867 ext. 230 for reservations.

Missouri in the Revolution
2026-02-17 18:00 - 20:00 | Missouri State Archives, 600 W. Main St., Jefferson City, 65101
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, NSDAR, the American Battlefield Trust, the Jane Randolph Jefferson Chapter, NSDAR, The Missouri State Archives, the Christopher Casey Chapter, SAR, and the Cole County America 250th Committee have partnered to bring a free, nationwide traveling exhibition, “The American Revolution Experience,” to Jefferson City from February 17 – March 5. Members of the Cole County America 250th Committee and the Christopher Casey Chapter, SAR, will present a program on George Rogers Clark and the Missouri in the Revolution to kick things off.

History Talk: Analyzing Historic Photographs
2026-02-28 10:00 - 11:00 | Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, 7400 Grant Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63123, United States
What are the differences between a daguerreotype, an ambrotype, and a tintype? Park Historian and Curator Nick Sacco will explore a variety of historic photos from both the
park’s collection and his own. He will explain the technology of photography and how it evolved during the19th century and how photographic technology combined with the
subject can help historians to date the image. Visitors are encouraged to bring a historic photo of their own to include in the discussion.
The program is free. Call 314-842-1867 ext. 230 for reservations

Speaker Series: Missouri Slave Stampedes and the Underground Railroad
2026-02-28 13:00 - 14:00 | Field House Museum, 634 S Broadway, Saint Louis, MO, 63102, United States
In the decades before the Civil War, Missouri’s unique position as a slave state bordering free states made it a flashpoint for escape attempts. Join us on Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 1:00 pm when Dr. Charles Hotle explores the dramatic “slave stampedes,” large, coordinated efforts by enslaved people to flee across the Mississippi River into Illinois or north into Iowa. While some succeeded, many were thwarted, leaving behind court records and testimony that now offer rare insights into the lives, strategies, and networks of freedom seekers. This program examines what these stampedes reveal about the realities of slavery in Missouri, the workings of the Underground Railroad, and how exaggerated reports of such escapes fueled rising sectional tensions.
This program is free with limited availability in person and on Zoom. Reservations must be made in advance on our website, by calling the Museum at 314-421-4689, or by emailing info@fieldhousemuseum.org.

Echoes of Blackness
2026-03-06 09:00 - 2026-04-02 17:00 | Black Archives of Mid-America, 1722 E. 17th Terr.,, Kansas City, MO, 64108
New Short Term Exhibit from April 1-28, 2026: Echoes of Blackness by Dawn Tree
Dawn Tree is a abstract surrealist artist, journalist, and author. Founder of Underground Tree Studios, she creates vibrant works on wood and textiles, blending heritage with social justice to bridge history and activism.

Book Talk - Lucile and Betty: the Ozarks' Fearless Female Journalists
2026-03-07 10:30 - 11:30 | Barry-Lawrence Regional Library, 202 Jefferson, Aurora, MO 65605
Susan Croce Kelly is the author of Newspaperwoman of the Ozarks: the Life & Times of Lucile Morris Upton. Her talk will zero in on the years that Upton worked with newspaper photographer Betty Love, and the impression they made with people across the Ozarks.

War Pigeon! Missouri’s role in the training of pigeons and pigeoneers in WWII
2026-03-10 08:00 - 18:30 | Missouri River Regional Library Art Gallery 214 Adams Street Jefferson City, MO 65109
Neosho, Missouri found itself the home to Camp Crowder, a US Army Signal Corps replacement training center, built in 1942. In 1943, the Army Signal Pigeon Corps moved from New Jersey to Missouri and began operations. Camp Crowder became the training and breeding home to the pigeon corps. Several of the ten Signal Pigeon Companies the Army created in WWII were built and training at Camp Crowder. In 1946 the pigeons moved back to New Jersey, leaving an unusual history in the Missouri base that has long been forgotten.
The presentation covers the Pigeon Corps from 1917-1957, with an emphasis on the training program at Camp Crowder. It also covers the unusual field formation of the Signal Pigeon Company, the only Army formation capable of self-sustaining it’s own staffing due to breeding of birds. Stories of hero birds are also told. The program survived through the Korean War and was disbanded in 1957, 40 years after it’s creation.

Book Talk: Betty and Lucile - the Ozarks' Fearless Female Journalists
2026-03-10 18:00 - 19:00
Author Susan Croce Kelly will talk about her biography of Springfield newspaperwoman Lucile Morris Upton, focusing particularly on the years she teamed up with photographer Betty Love

Speaker Series: The Skouras Brothers and the Making of the Immigrant American Dream
2026-03-15 13:00 - 14:00 | Field House Museum, 634 S Broadway, Saint Louis, MO, 63102, United States
Mike Tsichlis explores the life of the Skouras brothers, three Greek immigrants who found the American Dream in St. Louis. The Skouras brothers, driven from their home in Greece by impoverishment, sought opportunity in the United States in 1910. As they worked in hotels in St. Louis, the Skouras brothers looked for opportunities to make their mark. Eventually, the brothers found that opportunity in the theatre and film industry.
Join us, Sunday, March 15th at 1:00pm to learn more about the unique story of the Skouras brothers.
This program is free with limited availability in person and on Zoom. Reservations must be made in advance on our website, by calling the Museum at 314-421-4689, or by emailing info@fieldhousemuseum.org.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Tsichlis was born and raised in the City of St. Louis and is a lifetime resident of the St. Louis region. He has had a passion for learning about St. Louis and Missouri history since reading about local and state history in middle school and visiting historic sites and museums with family and on class field trips, including the Eugene Field House! After finishing a doctorate in Public Policy Studies at Saint Louis University and completing a dissertation examining demographic change in St. Louis, Dr. Tsichlis went on to pursue a career in higher education and non-profit institutional advancement. During this time, he took his childhood interest in regional history to a new level, deeply researching, publishing, and speaking on a variety of topics related to St. Louis and Missouri history, with a special interest in ethnic history, theater and cinema arts, firefighting and public safety, and demographic change.
He is currently completing a biographical manuscript on the Skouras brothers, three Greek immigrant siblings who came to St. Louis and went on to become major motion picture moguls during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. He resides in Fenton, Missouri with his spouse, a retired school principal and university professor, and their college-aged son.

Cy Avery and the Invention of Route 66
2026-03-20 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-20 13:00 - 14:30 | Maplewood Church, 25396 Hwy O, Sedalia, 65301
Author Susan Croce Kelly will tell the story of the early days of Route 66 and how it became an American tourist attraction and a worldwide icon,
